The state will no longer finance study programs at private colleges and universities, because the Draft Law on Higher Education abolishes the current solution, which made it possible for more than a decade.
Instead, the state budget will provide scholarships to Montenegrin higher education students who get the opportunity to study abroad, at one of the prestigious universities.
The draft law also stipulates that a higher education institution cannot have a regional department outside the headquarters - the municipality in which it was founded.
The National Council for Higher Education, as stated in the planned amendments to the regulations, will prescribe conditions and criteria for selection into academic positions that will apply to employees at all institutions, regardless of whether they are private or state faculties, and which will be controlled through process of accreditation and reaccreditation.
The public debate on the Draft Law will last until November 18.
There were requests, but they were not approved
The Law on Higher Education from 2010 introduced for the first time the possibility for the state to finance students at private faculties, if the Government assesses that they are of public interest, and there is no similar study program at the University of Montenegro.
According to the data of the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation, from then until today, only the department headed by Slavoljub Stijepović allocated money for the financing of students at private institutions, namely for the academic year 2012/2013. year.
"The Government of Montenegro, based on the Decision on study programs of public interest and the number of students at private institutions of higher education for the academic year 2012/2013. financed from the Budget of Montenegro (Official Gazette of Montenegro 8/13), with 200.000 euros, 115 students who studied at private institutions of higher education on established study programs of public interest were financed, namely: Audiovisual production, Design of visual communication (Mediterranean University), Polytechnics, Safety Studies, Food Technology, Food Safety and Ecology (UDG), State and European Studies - Faculty of State and European Studies", the Ministry replied to "News".
They state that, over the years, there have been requests for funding, but they have not been approved.
"This year, the Faculty of State and European Studies and the University 'Adriaktik' from Bar applied to the MPNI and the Council for Higher Education with a request for funding," they say from the MPNI, explaining that the requests were not approved.
"Given that basic studies at public institutions of higher education have been free since 2017, and master's since 2020, the Draft Law on Higher Education did not foresee the possibility of financing study programs of public interest at private higher education institutions", explained the Ministry.
Scholarships for world universities
The draft envisages that a student can be awarded a scholarship for excellence, if he studies at a higher education institution abroad, ranked up to 50th in one of the most recently published international rankings of universities in the world - Shanghai, The Times or the US News and World Report rating list.
"The funds for the scholarship from paragraph 1 of this article are provided from the budget of Montenegro, EU funds, and other sources, within the framework of the Fund for Excellence in Higher Education...
The terms, method, procedure and amount of the scholarship from paragraph 1 of this article are prescribed by the Ministry", the Draft Law states.
MPNI points out that this is how the institutional model for supporting students studying at prestigious institutions of higher education in the world is foreseen.
"In this way, the Ministry would, by covering tuition fees for students who study on one of the study programs that are not implemented at domestic institutions of higher education, train a shortage of staff at prestigious universities, for whom there is a need on the labor market in Montenegro," they state. from MPNI.
They emphasize that the Draft Law stipulates that students with disabilities and students from the RE population will have the opportunity to enroll in a private or public institution of higher education in Montenegro based on the principle of affirmative action.
"And the tuition fees of these students at private institutions will be provided from the state budget. We believe that these changes will significantly improve the current legal solutions, and thus the opportunities and status of future students", the MPNI stated.
Equal conditions for election to a position
The draft law, among other things, foresees that the members of the Council for Higher Education are elected by the Parliament of Montenegro for a period of four years, and the new competencies of that body concern the conditions for selection into academic positions, which has been a frequent complaint of the professional public until now.
"The Council prescribes the conditions and criteria for selection into academic positions, but also gives an opinion on the academic positions of persons who were not selected in accordance with the conditions and criteria for selection into academic positions in Montenegro," the draft regulations state.
Institutions of higher education, according to the Draft, cannot obtain initial accreditation, nor a work permit, if, among other things, they have not provided academic staff, elected to an academic position according to the regulations of Montenegro. The same condition will have to be fulfilled during the institution's reaccreditation, which is scheduled every seven years.
"An institution can be established and perform activities if it has academic staff, elected to an academic position according to the regulations of Montenegro, of which at least six are teachers for undergraduate studies, two teachers for each year of study, that is, two teachers for postgraduate studies, with academic title, with whom he has concluded an employment contract or a contract on supplementary work or a contract on work engagement in accordance with a special law", says the regulation, which is up for public discussion until mid-November.
The certificate of accreditation of the institution or study program is issued by the Agency for Quality Assurance of Higher Education.
In relation to the existing legal solution, in addition to the director and the Board of Directors, the Agency also has an Accreditation Board - a professional body, which will have 11 members.
"Members of the Accreditation Board are appointed from among academic staff from the fields of higher education, science, art, students and prominent experts... The structure of the members of the Accreditation Board, conditions and the procedure for electing members are regulated by the Agency's statute... The Accreditation Board appoints expert commissions for accreditation, i.e. re-accreditation , proposes standards for self-evaluation and external evaluation in accordance with ESG standards...", reads the Draft Law.
Flexible study model
The draft law on higher education defines that study programs are implemented as undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral programs.
The MPNI said that instead of the current 3+2+3 model, a flexible study model would be introduced, where undergraduate studies would be conducted over a three-year period, postgraduate studies would be conducted as one- or two-year study programs, while doctoral studies would be , as before, realized as three-year studies.
"The law foresees the introduction of mandatory practical classes in the amount of at least 30 ECTS credits per study program of undergraduate studies... It is stipulated that the basic exam dates should be in January, June and September. In the September exam period, the student has the right to take all the exams and pre-examination checks (colloquiums and final exams) that he applied for in that academic year, and which he did not take or passed in the January or June period, in accordance with the special act of the institution. are.
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